Mostly an accident
by puppy dangerous
Summary: Just some drivel from a long time ago I found again. Rose and 10th doctor.


Rose watches as the Doctor crouches on the ground. He's using the sonic screwdriver to mess about with a small metal box. She doesn't know what it is or what it's supposed to do, and from the way he's cursing at it he doesn't, either. He just can't help picking things up. Everything they come across he has to examine, poke and prod, figure out how it works. He has his brow drawn in concentration. He flips the gadget over and pushes the gray cover into place, then picks it up. The small red button on the top of the box flickers, then glows steadily.

"Do you know what that thing does?" Rose asks.

He turns it over and over in his hands, his head slightly back as he peers down his nose at it.

"Haven't a clue." He says.

"You're not going to-"Rose starts, giving him a sideways look.

The Doctor pushes the button.

The box beeps.

For a second, it feels like someone is holding a balloon right near to the hair on Rose's arms. Then it is gone.

"Did you feel anything?" The Doctor asks.

"Static?" Rose says.

"Apparently so. You don't feel strange in any way?" He asks.

Rose shakes her head.

"Neither do I. Hm. Well, that was disappointing." The Doctor says. "Come on, you've got to do something more interesting than that." He flips it over and pries it open again with the screwdriver. "I mean, honestly, look at all this stuff inside." He starts poking at glowing red tubes.

Rose watches him, smiling to herself. He always talks to those things, and with him you get the feeling that they're actually listening to him.

When she turns to go, the Doctor stops her.

"If you do start to feel odd in any way, let me know." He says.

Rose nods.

She leaves him sitting there, fiddling with the box and muttering to himself.

Fifteen minutes later, when Rose walks back in, the Doctor is looking at a cardboard box.

"Um, Doctor." She says.

He looks up at her.

"You said to tell you if I felt anything...funny." She says.

He stands up. "Yes?"

"Well, I-" Rose stops.

It's just to embarrassing. She hadn't even thought of what she would say to him when she walked in here. "Well, Doctor, you see I know my cycle really well-as a woman, I mean-and I know that there are days of the month when, in all honesty, just being in the same room as you makes me want to shag your brains out like a teenager at a drive in. But this isn't one of those days, you know, that shouldn't be for another week, so it's a bit odd that I'm suddenly and inexplicably incredibly randy. And not the normal way, either. Not the "Oh, that would be nice, to bad my last boyfriend is millions of miles and hundreds of years away." No, in the "If I do not fuck someone or something in the next five minutes I am going to die" way.

The Doctor watches her mouth move as she thinks. He can't help it.

"Nevermind." She says. "It's nothing."

"You'e sure?" The Doctor asks.

Rose nods.

He's close to her now. He puts a hand on her shoulder, warm through her thin t-shirt. He looks worried, and she wants to tell him that she really is fine...

He seems to come to this conclusion by himself, though. He drops his hand from her shoulder. His fingers trace, barely there, down the length of her arm, over the back of her hand, then they are gone.

He is gone.

Rose moves her hand fast and grabs his, her fingers closing tightly around his. The Doctor looks down at her hand for a second, then back up at her.

He wants to take her hand, lift to to his mouth, press his lips against the backs of her fingers. He wants to trace the line of her arm with his mouth.

She's pulled him in mid step and now he's back near to her, much to near to her. She has her bottom lip under her teeth, almost biting it but not quite.

He twists his hand in hers but doesn't try to shake her off. His fingers twine with hers and he comes around to face her all the way. The Doctor closes his eyes and lowers his head, his lips almost brushing the place behind her ear.

Oh, she smells good. He finds himself fighting not to press his face into the hollow of her neck and breathe her in.

("Oh, come on. We both know where you really want your head, now don't we. Let's not be modest." A voice, his voice, from another life and he shoos it away. "Fine, don't listen. Don't come crying to me when you realize what a bad idea this is.")

His lips almost brush her skin as he lifts his head. He is so close to her that not only his breath but his voice touch her skin and make goose flesh erupt over her arms.

"You know I think I've managed to find out exactly what it is-"

He gets to her chin and lifts his head. His lips hover just over hers. "that thing does."

He means to pull away right then, push her shoulders gently, put some space between them. It will be much safer that way. But, no matter how hard he tries, he just can't make himself. In fact, he's using every bit of his considerable willpower to stop himself from kissing her.

Rose moves. Just a little, a tiny tilt upward of her chin and her lips brush his.

The Doctor gasps softly, a shuddering breath, then he wrenches himself back away from her.

"What you are...experiencing...is the intended use of that little box." He clears his throat, then looks at her apologetically. "Sorry."

"Oh." Rose says. "Well, that's not so bad then, is it?" She laughs. "I know a lot of blokes would kill for one of those."

She walks over and picks it up. Her tongue creeps from the side of her mouth and touches her upper lip.

"I dunno, I think I could have a bit of fun with it. Does it work on men, too? Or are us girls the only lucky ones?" She asks.

The Doctor shrugs. "Didn't say on the box."

"Box?" Rose says. "What box?"

The Doctor pulls out the cardboard box and offers it to her. The front is badly damaged, so much so that she can't even see the words. She can tell there is a picture on the box of the thing that the Doctor just made. It looks like there is a green skinned woman beside the thing, wearing a bathing suit of some sort.

She opens it and finds an instruction book with the first several chapters ripped out.

"What did you do, fish this out of a dustbin?" She asks, waving it at him.

"Yes." He says promptly.

Rose narrows her eyes, then grabs the little remote up again. She points one end at him and presses the button..

"You feel anything?" She asks.

"No." the Doctor says. He's smiling. "But then again, you've got it backwards."

"What? Oh, dammit." She turns it around.

The Doctor raises his hands. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"No? Didn't have a problem shooting me with it, though." Rose says.

"I didn't mean to shoot you with it." He says lamely.

"That's what they all say." Rose says.

She pushes the button.

The box makes a popping sound, then the red light goes out.

The Doctor grabs the box and tries to pull it away from her, but Rose won't let go.

"You're going to break it." The Doctor says testily.

"I've already broken it." Rose snaps.

The Doctor opens his mouth, then closes it again. Rose realizes what she's just said and starts to laugh. She releases the box and leans on the Doctor as he, too, starts to chuckle.

"You make a convincing argument." He says, putting an arm around her back and patting her shoulder.

"So, you really got that thing not knowing what it does?" She asks.

The Doctor looks thoughtful. "Well, not exactly. I mean, I didn't know what it's exact function was, but I knew it was somewhat of a joke. One of those things you buy from Sunday adverts."

Rose shakes her head.

"So, Doctor, what are you going to do about it?" Rose asks.

The Doctor swings his shoulders around and his hand drags gently over her back, then comes to rest on the waistband of her jeans. He swallows hard and closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and opens them again.

"My highly qualified medical opinion-" He says, "Is that you should go to bed."

He doesn't need to tack the word "alone" onto the end of it. That is implied.

Rose could simply say no. Then what would he do? Would he really be able to stop anything from happening if she were to come over here and slide her arms around his neck and kiss him? Could he push her away?

He can tell himself that he'd be taking advantage of her, and that's why he's trying to send her away. But the truth is, and he knows it but doesn't let himself think about it, is that he wouldn't be taking advantage of her. Not really. And both of them know that.

Rose looks slightly disappointed, but she doesn't argue.

"K." Her hand finds its way to her mouth and she presses the third joint of her index finger lightly against her teeth.

Thankfully, thankfully, she takes a few steps backward, then turns around and walks away.

The Doctor leans weakly on the wall of his beloved TARDIS.

He hadn't known what it did. Well, mostly hadn't. He might have had a glimmer of an idea. But that was all. And he certainly hadn't meant to use it on Rose.

No. Certainly not.

Mostly.


End file.
